Memories
by EelKat
Summary: An elderly Rin, remembers the past. Rin's life before meeting Sesshomaru. IN PROGRESS! 19 CHAPTERS PLANNED.
1. Chapter 1: The Storyteller

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_**Story Overview:**_

_**Title: **__Memories _

_**Author: **__Wendy C. Allen aka EelKat_

_**Rating**__: Most Chapters are K+ but some are T, so the whole story is rated T. _

_**Language: **__English_

_**Based On: **__InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi _

_**Disclaimer**__: I am a fan of InuYasha. I do not own this manga/anime or it's characters._

_**Genre: **__drama, a day in the life of . . . , romance, fantasy, _

_**Spoilers: **__manga and anime, spanning several chapters and episodes_

_**POV: **__Rin_

_**Character Appearances: **__Sesshomaru, Rin, Jaken, others_

_**Pairings**__: Sesshy x Rin_

_**Summary**__: An elderly Rin, remembers the past._

_**Author's Notes: **__In progress, with no idea how many chapters it will become. Enjoy! EK_

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**_Chapter Overview:_**

_**Spoilers:** manga and anime, early on_

_**POV:** Rin_

_**Character Appearances:** Rin, Jaken, others_

_**Summary:** A day in the life of 75 year old Rin._

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**Memories: Chapter One**

**The Storyteller **

The woman sat in garden listening to songbirds sing. She and her family lived in the Lord's palace now, though the Lord himself was rarely here. It seemed life in an empire of his own did not suit him well, for he preferred life on the open road.

Flowers danced in the wind. They reminded her of her childhood days, so long ago, before she and her husband came to the Lord's palace. It had been many years since her husband had passed away. Her children, now had children of their own. Soon they would be home for the evening and begging for stories. She would not tell the stories. She too would sit with her grandchildren and listen to the toad demon as he retold the tales of their travels.

That night the children and their parents gathered around the fire pit and listened as Jaken told them yet another wild tale of his travels with Lord Sesshomaru and their battles against the many demons that threatened the lands. His tales seemed to get ever wilder and more daring with each retelling. Rin wondered why she did not remember Jaken doing the things he was now saying he had done. She was nearly asleep when she realized a firm little hand was shaking her arm.

"Grandmama!" the little girl called out, staring up into Rin's eyes. "didn't you hear me?"

"What?" Rin looked around, realizing all eyes were on her, "No, I'm sorry, I must have dozed off."

"I said," the little girl stood with her hands on her hips and raised her voice in a scolding tone, "How did you meet Lord Sesshomaru? You never told us, and Jaken doesn't know."

"He doesn't know?" Rin blinked and looked over at the little green imp. _Could this be true? It had been so many years . . . decades even. Had Sesshomaru never told Jaken of how we had meet? _Rin thought it was likely, seeing how Sesshomaru never was one to speak often.

"Well?" the little girl started tapping her foot.

_She seems so much like a younger me, _thought Rin, smiling to herself. "Jaken, is this true? Did I never say how Sesshomaru and I meet? Didn't Sesshomaru ever say?"

"Well . . . no," Jaken stared at his feet. Jaken prided himself in knowing all there was to know about Lord Sesshomaru. It was hard for him to admit that there was something about his Lord that he did not know. "I asked Lord Sesshomaru many times, but he would never tell me. I knew about the wolves, but he said he already knew you before than. I could not image what he meant, because I followed my Lord for decades before you were even born, and I can't imagine how he could have met you before the wolf demon tribe attacked, but he would never tell me about it."

"I was an orphan," Rin began. She hesitated, before continuing on. "My family had been killed by bandits, and I lived in the village, but no one would take me into their home, so I lived alone in an abandoned hut. I used to be very lonely, so I would walk in the forest and pick flowers and listen to the birds sing. That's what I was doing the day, I meet Lord Sesshomaru. He was asleep in the forest. Injured. He wasn't asleep, he was injured and alone. Like me, he was alone with no one to look after him, so I stayed with him and took care of him. That was only a few days before the wolves came, and you already know about that story. I've heard Jaken tell it to you many times now." Rin looked at Jaken, and smiled, knowing Jaken was itching to pick up the story and tell his own version of it. "I think, I'll let Jaken tell the rest, he does such a better job of it , besides, " she turned to her little granddaughter, " I'm not so young as you, I need my rest."

Right on queue, Jaken leapt to his feet and began to tell of the sword that could restore life to the dead and how Lord Sesshomaru had used it to save Rin. Soon all eyes were again on Jaken, and Rin quietly slipped out of the room.

Rin went out to the garden again. She was not really tired, she just wanted to be alone. Alone with her memories. Memories of her childhood. Her travels with Sesshomaru. Her mother and father and brothers. She looked up at the silvery moon overhead, and thought about the simple story she had told her grandchildren tonight. She had told them what happened. But this was not entirely true. Not that Rin had told a lie, for she had not. Her words were the truth, but only part of the truth. She had never been able to bring herself to tell anyone the truth behind that simple version of the story.

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_Author's End Note:_

_Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!_

_I would love to hear what you have to say about this chapter. So, tell me, what's your take on this? What did you like about it? What did you not like about it? I try to keep my characters in character with the originals, I hope I succeeded. I'm trying to keep the events in this story in keeping with the events of the manga/anime. Did you see any mistakes I missed, O.O let me know so I can go back and fix them! Think this needs another chapter, a sequel, or a prequel, let me know and I'll think about adding more. Please review and leave a comment to share your views!_

_Thanks millions!_

_EK_

_huggles to all my fans_

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	2. Chapter 2: One Summer Day

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_**Based On: **__InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi _

_**Disclaimer**__: I am a fan of InuYasha. I do not own this manga/anime or it's characters._

_**Spoilers: **__none_

_**POV: **__Rin_

_**Character Appearances: **__Rin, others_

_**Summary**__: A day in the life of 5 year old Rin._

_**Author's Notes: **__Another chapter up. This one is rated K for random cuteness. Enjoy! EK_

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**Memories: Chapter Two**

**One Summer Day**

Rin went out to the garden again. She stopped and looked at the weeds. All of the vegetables and herbs where planted in nice, neat rows. Soon, very soon, they would be ready to pick and eat. That was not what was on Rin's mind at that moment however. The vegetables would be picked and cooked and made into delicious stews. The herbs would be made into medicines. These plants were useful. They had purpose. They had a reason to be there. They had been planted and cultivated with a goal in mind. They were needed. They were wanted. The weeds however, they had come along on their own. They had entered the garden uninvited, and now threatened to destroy the vegetables and herbs by chocking them out with long roots, and stealing the sunlight by growing taller than all the other plants in the garden.

"Rin!" a young woman stuck her head out the door of the house. "I thought I told you to pull the weeds out of the garden."

Rin blinked and looked back to the house. "Yes, mama."

"Well?"

"I'm sorry." Rin answered. "I'm doing it now."

"Don't dawdle," her mother called out, "I want those weeds gone before dark."

Without another word, Rin hurried to make up for lost time, her tiny hands pulling up the beautiful weeds and leaving behind the drab looking vegetables and herbs. She would rather have pulled up the plants and left the weeds. Yes, she knew that the plants would provide good things to eat one day soon, but the weeds were so much prettier with their bright little blossoms.

Rin was the baby of the family, only five years old and it was her job in this family to tend to the garden. There wasn't much that she could do yet, so her job for the time being was to pull weeds and fetch water from the nearby creek. Her older brothers did the hunting, and carrying firewood, one day she would be big enough to help them, but for now, she pulled weeds. Her mother had other reasons for sending Rin out to the garden as well. Rin was a mischievous child. Not a trouble maker by any means, Rin was a good girl, but she was a handful, getting into everything and asking more questions than her mother had thought existed. Sending Rin outside to pull weeds got her out of the house and gave her something to do beside ask one question after another, without stopping to breath or even wait for an answer before asking the next question.

Rin shed a tear for each weed she pulled. It was not right, that these plants must be sent away simply because they did not provide food. They also provided beauty. Didn't that matter? Yesterday Rin had asked her mother how to tell the weeds from the other plants.

"Weeds are easy to identify," her mother had said, "they are the ones with the beautiful flowers on them. They have to have flowers, because they have no other purpose. We can not eat them, so they try to stop us from pulling them up in other ways."

Rin used to like pulling weeds. It was fun pulling up arm loads of flowers. Yesterday, however, Rin had decided to ask questions about weeds. She wanted to know what they were and why it was that she had to pull them up. It was her father who had told her how weeds were like demons. Evil. Beautiful. Deceptive. He told her how they showed the humans their pretty flowers, while they hid their vile roots underground, killing and strangling the life from all of the good plants. Never having seen a demon before, Rin could only imagine them looking like flowers. Rin wondered how something so pretty, could be so harmful. Her father must be right though. He always was.

And so, Rin sat, pulling up the flowers and tossing them to dry in the sun. It was silly, pulling up such pretty flowers. Beyond silly, it was a boring task for a child who would rather be splashing in the cool creek on a hot day like today. She thought about the crystal water of the creek. It was not far away, she could hear it from here. Rin stopped and listened. The dog was asleep. Her mother had gone back into the house. Her brothers and father busy behind the house. They could not see Rin from there. She could sneak away to the creek and be back before any one noticed she had gone.

The water was so cool and refreshing, trickling across the rocks and between her toes. Rin was glad she had snuck away and come here. It was too hot to work on such a beautiful day anyways. She had only planned on staying a few minutes, but minutes quickly turned to hours, as Rin lost track of time while chasing the little fish that swam past her legs. Several times she caught a fish. Each time throwing it back. She wished she could live every day like this. No more gardens. No more weeds.

Rin could hear a dog barking in the distance. She stopped and listened. It was father's dog.

"How odd," Rin said to herself, "he never barks."

He never did much of anything really. The dog was a stray that had followed her father home one day. He wasn't good for much, her father always said, but than he would add, that he kept the dog because it was good at catching rats. Kept the rats out of the barn and out of the house, and since it ate the rats it caught, there was no need to waste any of the familiy's food on the dog either. Rin's father always said that once the rats were gone, he'd send the dog away, but Rin knew this wasn't true. Her father loved the dog, and would never send it away, rats or no rats.

"Besides," Rin reasoned out loud, "who else is going to look after me while I pull the weeds."

Suddenly she remembered the weeds. It was nearly sunset and she had not pulled the weeds from the garden yet, she would have to hurry and get a few more rows done before nightfall. She was certain her mother would understand and not be angry. Quickly Rin ran back home.

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_Author's End Note:_

_Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!_

_I would love to hear what you have to say about this chapter. So, tell me, what's your take on this? What did you like about it? What did you not like about it? I try to keep my characters in character with the originals, I hope I succeeded. I'm trying to keep the events in this story in keeping with the events of the manga/anime. Did you see any mistakes I missed, O.O let me know so I can go back and fix them! Think this needs another chapter, a sequel, or a prequel, let me know and I'll think about adding more. Please review and leave a comment to share your views!_

_Thanks millions!_

_EK_

_huggles to all my fans_

* * *


	3. Chapter 3: Bandits!

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_**Based On: **__InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi _

_**Disclaimer**__: I am a fan of InuYasha. I do not own this manga/anime or it's characters._

_**Spoilers: **__none_

_**POV: **__Rin_

_**Character Appearances: **__Rin, others_

_**Summary**__: A day in the life of 5 year old Rin, continued from Chapter 2._

_**Author's Notes: **__Another chapter up. Enjoy! EK_

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**Memories: Chapter Three**

**Bandits**

As Rin ran back towards the garden, it occurred to her that she had never heard the dog barking so much before. He sounded angry. Mean even. The dog never sounded like that. She did not know why, but it scared her. It scared her more when she heard a load _yip_ and the dog feel silent. Rin changed her direction towards the house, and began running faster. Something was wrong, she could feel it.

Rin did not stop running until she reached the clearing. From there she could see the house. She could see her father's tan colored dog laying on the ground, his fur soaked red with blood. From the house she heard yelling. The voices of men, whom she did not recognize, mingled with the voice of her father, the crying wails of her mother, and angry shouts from her brothers. She heard her mother's mournful cry and it terrified her more than anything. Her mother never cried liked that.

Quietly Rin crept closer to the house. She had to know what was happening. Peering in the window she could see a man standing over her mother, yelling at her. Rin's mother was huddled on the floor, wailing hysterically and clutching the bloody body of Rin's eldest brother. There was so much blood. Rin had never seen this much blood before. Another man entered the room, he was carrying a long carved stick, which he aimed at her mother. The stick made a loud bang, filling the room with a cloud of smoke. Rin did not understand how or why, but at the same time as the stick exploded, her mother fell dead to the floor, with half of her face torn off. Rin gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth to prevent the men from hearing her. Two strong arms suddenly grabbed Rin, lifting her off the ground. She was about to scream, when she looked up and saw that it was her father.

"Run," he commanded her.

"What's going on?" she whimpered.

"Bandits," was his curt answer. "Now run, get into the woods and hide. Stay there until I come and get you. Don't let them see you."

Rin nodded and did as she was told. As soon as her feet hit the ground she started running. She ran and ran, and didn't look back, not even when she heard more guns fire. She didn't stop running until she tripped and fell, landing flat on her face. She did not know where she was, and she did not care. She was too scared moved. Too scared to cry. Too scared to even breath, for fear someone would hear her.

* * *

_Author's End Note:_

_Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!_

_I would love to hear what you have to say about this chapter. So, tell me, what's your take on this? What did you like about it? What did you not like about it? I try to keep my characters in character with the originals, I hope I succeeded. I'm trying to keep the events in this story in keeping with the events of the manga/anime. Did you see any mistakes I missed, O.O let me know so I can go back and fix them! Think this needs another chapter, a sequel, or a prequel, let me know and I'll think about adding more. Please review and leave a comment to share your views!_

_Thanks millions!_

_EK_

_huggles to all my fans_

* * *


	4. Chapter 4: Alone

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_**Based On: **__InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi _

_**Disclaimer**__: I am a fan of InuYasha. I do not own this manga/anime or it's characters._

_**Spoilers: **__none_

_**POV: **__Rin_

_**Character Appearances: **__Rin, others_

_**Summary**__: A day in the life of 5 year old Rin, continued from Chapter 3._

_**Author's Notes: **__Another chapter up. Enjoy! EK_

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**Memories: Chapter Four**

**Alone**

Rin opened her eyes. It was still dark out. _Not time to get up yet. _She shivered. It was chilly tonight. She closed her eyes again, curled up and reached out to pull her sleeping kimono over herself. Her hand wandered aimlessly in the dark, but she could not find her covers. She couldn't feel her sleeping mat either. All she could feel was cold hard dirt, and dry leaves. She opened her eyes again and strained through the darkness to see her surroundings. _Where am I? Why am I outside? _Suddenly she sat up straight and looked around. The bandits! They had hurt her mother. Her father had told her to run. She was supposed to be hiding. She had fallen asleep. Why hadn't her father come to get her yet? _Shouldn't the bad men be gone by now? Maybe he could not find me. Should I go back yet?_

Slowly Rin made her way through the dark forest, back towards her home. In the dark she could not tell if she was going the right way or not, but she knew that she had run from this direction so she went back the same way she had come. She had not actually gone very far from home. Her fear had made it seem like she had run for hours. The morning sun was starting to send thin slivers of light filtering down through the trees. She could see her house not far ahead. There were no sounds. Maybe the bandits had left and it was safe for her to go back?

The bandits had not seen her, so they had had no reason to follow her and no reason to look for her. They had been passing through. Thieves in the night. A random attack on a random house. This house chosen because it was on the outskirts of the village. A house still part of the village, but just far enough from the others so that no one would hear the screams of anyone whom should be home.

Rin knew nothing of the bandits. She did not know why her family was picked. She did not know that, only a year ago, these men had had families of their own. She did not know of the demon that had attacked their village and killed their families. She did not know that these men, now bitter and filled with hate, were starving, and had turned into thieves in order to survive, that they traveled the country side in search of the demon who had killed their wives and children and raided houses for food, and killed all who got in their way. Revenge had over taken them, to the point that they had become no different than the very creature they now sought. Rin knew none of this, and if she had known, none of it would have mattered to her any ways, for when Rin arrived back at her house, there was only one thought on her mind: Blood. Lots and lots of blood. On the floors, on the walls, on the ceiling, on the ground outside. . . there was blood everywhere.

Her mother still lay on the floor, still clutching the eldest son. All of her blood had drained from the bullet wound in her head, and had run like a river across the floor and out the door, mixing with the pool of blood surrounding the dog's body. Her other brothers lay in the doorway, more blood mingling with the rest. Her father lay outside, not far from the dog, even more blood.

"Mama?"

There was no answer.

"Papa?"

He did not answer her either.

Suddenly Rin felt very afraid. Not afraid like she had been last night. Last night she had been afraid of the mean men who had attacked her family. Last night her fear was hot and made her run. This fear, the fear she felt now was cold. It was a cold empty fear, as though her very soul had been ripped out. She felt cold and empty. Though she was standing in her own home, she felt lost. She felt . . . alone.

Rin dropped to her knees. She wanted to cry, but no tears came. She wanted to scream, but her voice felt like it had been sucked deep into her belly and would not come out. She tried to scream, but her mouth refused to open. She could do nothing. Her arms would not move. Her eyes would not blink. Her head would not look away. All she could do was sit on her knees and feel nothing.

She was alone. Her family was there with her. Her father, her mother, her brothers . . . they were all right there with her, and yet, they were not. She could not understand. She could see their bodies, but their bodies were empty. There was no one home. They had left her. She was alone.

* * *

_Author's End Note:_

_Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!_

_I would love to hear what you have to say about this chapter. So, tell me, what's your take on this? What did you like about it? What did you not like about it? I try to keep my characters in character with the originals, I hope I succeeded. I'm trying to keep the events in this story in keeping with the events of the manga/anime. Did you see any mistakes I missed, O.O let me know so I can go back and fix them! Think this needs another chapter, a sequel, or a prequel, let me know and I'll think about adding more. Please review and leave a comment to share your views!_

_Thanks millions!_

_EK_

_huggles to all my fans_

* * *


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